Good Graphics

Good web sites require a seamless integration of text and graphics. Here's the least you need to know about web graphics.

Graphics file formats

Because of the bandwidth issues surrounding networked delivery of information and because image files contain so much information, Web graphics are by necessity compressed. Different graphic file formats employ varying compression schemes, and some are designed to work better than others for certain types of graphics. The two primary Web file formats are GIF and JPEG. A third format, PNG, has been available since 1995 but has been little used because of poor browser support.

common graphics format are

GIF files
JPEG graphics
PNG graphics

Advantages of GIF files
GIF is the most widely supported graphics format on the Web
GIFs of diagrammatic images look better than JPEGs
GIF supports transparency and interlacing


Advantages of JPEG images
Huge compression ratios mean faster download speeds
JPEG produces excellent results for most photographs and complex images
JPEG supports full-color (24-bit, "true color") images